US oil companies to spend billions of dollars in Venezuela: Trump after Maduro's capture
Palm Beach, January 4
President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the oil companies in the United States will "spend billions of dollars" to fix the broken oil infrastructure in Venezuela and "start making money" for the South American nation.
While addressing a press conference in Florida, Trump said the United States was in the "oil selling" business and would provide it to other countries interested in buying.
"We're in the oil business. We're going to sell it to them (other countries). We'll be selling oil probably in much larger doses because they (Venezuela) couldn't produce very much because their infrastructure was so bad. So we'll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries, many of whom are using it now. But I would say many more will come."
Trump said that the oil business in Venezuela has been a "total bust" and will be fixed with billions of dollars of investment by oil companies in the United States to fix the "badly broken oil infrastructure". He also said that Venezuela's poor infrastructure had limited its own oil production.
"As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust for a long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could have been pumping and what could have taken place. We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country (Venezuela)," he added.
His statement comes after the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a US military operation.
Trump said that the United States will temporarily run Venezuela to ensure peace, justice and a safe transition of power. He added that American authorities will remain in the country until a proper and stable transition takes place.
"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We want peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela. We can't take a chance if somebody else takes over Venezuela, doesn't have the good of Venezuelan people in mind. We're not going to let that happen. We are there now but we are going to stay until such time till proper transition takes place. We're going to run it essentially until such time," he said.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Interesting. If US companies can genuinely help rebuild Venezuela's oil sector and create jobs for its people, that could be a positive. But the "temporarily run the country" part sounds like a new form of colonialism. The transition needs to be led by Venezuelans.
From an Indian energy security perspective, more oil on the global market is good news. Might help keep prices stable for us. But the method of regime change sets a dangerous precedent for any nation that has resources others want.
The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela was terrible under Maduro. If this intervention leads to stability and economic recovery for ordinary citizens, then it's a step in the right direction. The proof will be in the pudding—will the money actually reach the people?
"We're in the oil business." He said the quiet part out loud. This isn't about democracy, it's about controlling resources. Reminds me of the old East India Company tactics, just with a modern corporate face. Hope Venezuela doesn't get exploited.
As someone who works in infrastructure, fixing Venezuela's oil fields is a massive undertaking. Billions will be needed. The question is, what will be the terms for Venezuela? Will they own their resources after this "investment" or be forever in debt?
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.